You all care about this site. The next step is caring for it. We’re asking you to caretake this site so it can remain the premier Twins community on the internet.
Author’s Note: Thank you for checking out this story. My name is Mat Batts and I hope to bring you some stories and insight from the minor league lifestyle here on Twins Daily throughout the season. This will be my second season (first full) in the Twins organization and my second stint here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I look forward to getting to know a lot of you—online or in person—as we move forward this summer. I hope you enjoy! It’s no secret that player appearances can be, well, uncomfortabl
You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here, and if you want to add the show to your non-iTunes podcast player, this is the RSS Feed. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jsdsjb0g_VE/VTEtRryR2ZI/AAAAAAAALZI/TsDPU-8kpdk/s1600/hunterdouglas.jpg We went a little wild this week, 110 minutes wild. We chatted about the Twins' recent struggles, reviewed our experiences from the Home Opener (including the returning of Torii Hunter), and tried to decide what
The Twins surprised everyone and won on Thursday afternoon, taking two out of three against the Royals to win their first series of the year. Down on the farm, things did not go as well with every affiliate in action taking the loss. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Pawtucket PawSox Box Score Despite seven runs on twelve hits, the Red Wings lost to the PawSox in the bottom of the ninth when Ryan Pressly, working in his third inning of the evening, gave up a one out home run to Pawtucket's
<img src="http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_10527623.jpg" alt="itunes pic" /><br />This week we chat about the Twins' recent struggles, review our experiences from the Home Opener (including the returning of Torii Hunter), and try and decide what is going on with Tommy Milone. In the second half of the program we are joined by Seth Stohs from TwinsDaily.com to talk about the first week of Minor League baseball. And of course, beer, baseball, and the new
The Minnesota Twins recently got their second win of the Major League Baseball season, and while it wasn't on the back of an offensive outburst, the run support was enough to get the job done. A stagnant start to the season had Paul Molitor searching for creative ways to get things going. After making a few lineup tweaks, the Twins got back in the win column. The question is, what should we expect going forward. In changing around the lineup, the key differences were in swapping spots between To
How about last night!? (Forgive my excitement, but we may need to celebrate smaller victories this season.) "Kyle Gibson pitched 6 2/3 innings of 1 run baseball and Oswaldo Arcia hit a 2-run homer to lead the Twins to a 3-1 victory over the undefeated Royals." Games like last night give glimpses of the future the Twins hope they are building. Let's hope we can read many more headlines with those names in the storyline. Now, onto the real point of this post... I know it's only been a week
It’s pretty hard to imagine this baseball season getting off to a better start, isn’t it? I mean, even the most optimistic of us probably wouldn’t have predicted a .789 winning percentage through the first week of games! This looks like it could be a fun summer of baseball! What’s that? You say the Twins are languishing with a 1-6 record? Who cares? I’m talking about their full-season minor league affiliates! That’s where the action (and literally ALL of the fun) is! The AAA Rochester Red Wi
The Minnesota Twins have started out the 2015 season in just about the worst fashion possible (ok they could be winless). While there's no doubt at all that being this bad is concerning, the bigger issue seems to come from within. From Terry Ryan on down through Paul Molitor, the organization seems to be operating on the principle that doing the same things they have always done, will somehow now produce different results. As if four abysmal seasons weren't enough evidence to the contrary, the b
Sure, the season is only a week old. Yeah, it's a small sample size. But it's already starting to look like this current roster isn't going to give the fan base any reason to invest time or money this summer. I don't know about you, but I can just as easily go to a Red Cow location and enjoy a 60/40 burger and just turn away from the TV when Blaine Boyer throws a fastball down the middle of the plate that's hit over Oswaldo Arcia's head, booted by Jordan Schafer and airmailed over the cut off
What in the heck happened? The Franchise that used to be the model that everybody wanted to emulate is now the franchise that nobody wants to copy. Is Terry Ryan just terrible? Or, has he had uncommon circumstances that have led to this? One thing that comes through to me, is that there seems to be a terrible evaluation system of prospects. While other teams seem to produce young stars seemingly every year the Twins seem to be in perennial evaluation mode (Plouffe, Arcia.Hicks..etc) They
Minnesota's home opener was sure depressing but luckily all the Twins minor league affiliates picked up the slack on Monday. There were some big games from some big names so fans can turn their frown upside down with a look down on the farm. To celebrate the start of the minor league season, we are offering the 2015 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook in paperback right now at a 15% discount. This is a limited time offer so make sure to order you copy now before this deal is gone. RED WINGS RE
Jorge Polanco has been a favorite prospect of mine for several years and at this point he has certainly established himself as one of the best prospects in the Twins system. His discipline at the plate and positional flexibility make him seem like a relatively safe bet as far as prospects go. However, Polanco’s lack of power and speed have prevented him from being viewed as a dynamic prospect; you won’t see him on any top 100 prospect lists. But after 3 steals in four games, is it time to ree
A point in making very long prospect lists is to establish the fact that certain players are on the radar. Josmil Pinto was around 50 on my list after his 2011 season and we have seen how that went. Here, I am singling out 12 prospects who are not in most top 20 Twins prospect lists, but they could easily be with very strong 2015 seasons. I expect that at least three of these guys will be in the top 20 in six months time. Jorge Fernandez Lewin Diaz Levi Michael Mat Batts Aaron Slegers J.T. Cha
Today marks the Minnesota Twins home opener. A game that represents the first sellout of Target Field in quite some time, may be more a letdown than originally expected. With no Ervin Santana, and a team that owns a 1-5 record on the season, expectations have already plummeted. In the early going however, the Twins have seen less innovation and more of the same from Paul Molitor, and it hasn't been a good thing. When hired, Molitor was regarded as an elite baseball mind, and someone that embra
His last name may not be May or Meyer, but J.O. (Jose) Berrios may be the Twins future ace. Drafted in the first round in the 2012 MLB June Ametuer Draft, the 6', 185 pound right hander out of Papa Juan High School in Bayamin, Puerto Rico has been on the fast track in the organization. In his short career, the 20 year old(5-27-94) has pitched well beyond his years. He began his career in 2012 in the GCL and in Elizabeton. 2013 was spent in Cedar Rapids. In 2014, he had stints in Fort Meyers,
In the majors on Sunday afternoon, Phil Hughes was out-dueled by Chris Sale who was making his first start of 2015 season, as the Twins lost the rubber-match of their three game series 6-2 in Chicago. In the minors, all four of the Twins full-season affiliates were in action on Sunday, and there were a lot of zeroes put up on the scoreboards. Read on to see how each of them fared. RED WINGS REPORT Buffalo 2, Rochester 0 Box Score On the mound for the Red Wings Sunday afternoon was big le
Three years ago, we Peanuts adopted a prospect. A delightful prospect we thought could grow into an intimidating reliever...or at least his beard could. A guy we cared for, and supported through thick and (more frequently) thin, until finally, we waved good bye as he ran joyfully through a field upstate, where all the released prospects go when they're released. We spent a year in mourning, but we're ready to re-open our hearts, to another prospect. And to that end, we've adopted another in th
Alot of people say Sano is not ready, hasnt had enough at bats. Sano has been playing baseball day and night since he was 12 years old. He has thrown the ball so much that he recieved tommy john. Sano plays baseball most winters in the domincan league. Play in the bigs while healthy and young. Sick of people saying dont bring him up youll ruin him. Your going to use him up where it dont matter.
Good news Twins fans, Joe Mauer had a very productive, "Joe Mauer-ish" day yesterday. Tell my dad who is obsessed with batting average and fairly representative of the old school baseball philosophy that 'Mauer had a good day' and he would probably ask, "Why? How many hits did he have?" Well, one. A single. "How many RBIs?" Just one. "Couldn't have been that good..." That's old school and it's wrong. Earl Weaver used to say, "On offense, your most precious possessions are your 27 out
As much as us die hard fans want to believe, we tried to ignore the anemic offense produced in ST...but now the chickens are sitting on the eggs.... True enough....good hitting would not have saved the Tiger series...with our horrible pitching...Hughes 4 run effort now looks pretty good... So when all this unfolds..we still have a .270 hitting first baseman with no power, we have a kid Vargas that I think is over matched and easily exposed....we have an outfielder at 10 million that is beyo
“WILL THEY DO IT? WILL THEY GIVE IN TO THE TEMPTATION OF THE BUTTON? THE BEAUTIFUL, SHINY BUTTON! THE JOLLY, CANDY-LIKE BUTTON!” The temptation is real folks. Three games into the season and some of Twins territory already have their grubby little fingers massaging the red, circular form of the Panic Button. Sure, this season may be starting out on the same dismal path of the last three seasons. Sure, the Twins have scored just one, measly run of offense that wasn’t even charged to the pitch
You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here, and if you want to add the show to your non-iTunes podcast player, this is the RSS Feed. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ntjVyl3NrZs/VSfVqKucBOI/AAAAAAAALX4/tDUVCqzcJMo/s1600/Oswaldo%2BArcia%2BPointing.jpg The Twins have not been impressive. The offense has been anemic. The pitching has been atrocious. The defense has been porous. It's been bad, bad, bad. And yet, there have still been some bright spo
Houston reached base 3 times on Thursday. He's hitting .308/.398/.440 (.838) since joining the Surge and stole his 14th AA base. His 38 total SB is tied with Yasser Mercedes for organizational lead.
The Twins Daily Caretaker Fund
Winning the Cedar Rapids Kernel prize from TD is far better than winning the FIFA World Peace Prize. Thanks.· 0 replies
